Dearborn High Student Named MHSAA Scholar-Athlete

A Dearborn High student has been named a 2013 Scholar-Athlete, the Michigan High School Athletic Association announced Tuesday.

DHS senior Lara Fawaz will receive a scholarship when she attends the University of Michigan next fall to study neuroscience.

Among her accomplishments, the MHSAA highlighted:

• Four-year letterwinner in Basketball and Tennis, served at team captain and captured all-league and  academic all-league honors in both sports.
• Has played doubles on Dearborn tennis team which has qualified for MHSAA Finals the past three years.
• Four-year participant in Key Club, Arabic Club and Sadr Foundation USA.
• Has served as student government vice president for two years, and as an officer for National Honor Society and Arabic Club.
• Helped launch a book drive for Oakwood Center for Exception Families, which garnered over 500 books.
• Has also been a tutor.

In her essay, Fawaz spoke of the win-lose element of sporting events.

“Those who lose and start to cause trouble with their opponents, do not only lose, but also undermine the respectable system of the game," she wrote. "Sometimes you lose and others you win, but how you react to a certain loss or win is what will define you as an athlete.”

Fawaz is one of 32 Michigan students chosen to receive the $1,000 scholarships for 2013. Award winners are chosen based on a combination of athletic and academic excellence.

To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale), and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and submit a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics, according to the MHSAA.

On average, finalists participate in at least two sports. There are 59 three-plus sport participants in the finalist field this year, and all but one of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented, according to the MHSAA release.

Fawaz has played on both the basketball and tennis teams at DHS. She also carries on a family legacy of excellence: older sister Dema Fawaz served as valedictorian for the DHS Class of 2012.

To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Final, March 23, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.